System and method for forming untanned skin portions on the body of a person during a sun tan process

ABSTRACT

A system and method is disclosed for forming untanned skin portions on the body of a person during a sun tan process. In one advantageous embodiment of the method of the invention, a person wears a sun tan garment that forms the untanned skin portions and suntan lines on the body of the person in accordance with a pattern based on a design garment. The pattern of the sun tan garment forms the untanned skin portions and suntan lines on the body of the person so that the untanned skin portions and suntan lines are not visible when the person later wears the design garment.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to clothing that is wornoutdoors and, in particular, to a system and method for forming untannedskin portions on the body of a person during a sun tan process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a person wears an item of clothing outdoors in the sunshine (forexample, a bathing suit) light rays from the sun irradiate the portionsof the skin of the person that are not covered by the clothing. If theperson remains in the sun for an extended period of time the exposedportions of the skin of the person will tan. Conversely, the portions ofthe skin of the person that are covered by clothing will not tan. Theline between the skin that is tanned and the skin that is not tanned isreferred to as a suntan line.

FIG. 1 illustrates a back view of a woman 100 who is wearing a bathingsuit 110. The bathing suit 110 has portions that form two shoulderstraps 120 that cross across the back of the woman 100. The portions ofthe skin of the woman 100 that are not covered by the bathing suit 110(and shoulder straps 120) are designated with the reference numeral 130.

If the woman 100 remains outdoors in the sunshine long enough, theexposed portions of skin 130 will tan. The amount of tan depends uponthe length of the exposure time. FIG. 2 illustrates a back view of thewoman 100 after the tanning process has been complete and the bathingsuit 110 has been removed. The exposed portions of skin 130 are tan. Theportions of the skin that were previously covered by the bathing suit110 have not been tanned. The untanned portions of skin are designatedwith the reference numeral 210.

The suntan lines between the tanned skin portions 130 and the untannedskin portions 210 are designated with reference numeral 220. As shown inFIG. 2, the suntan lines 220 trace an outline of the edges of thebathing suit 110 on the body of the woman 110.

Later when the woman 100 wears other types of clothing the suntan lines220 may be visible. FIG. 3 illustrates a back view of the woman 100 whenshe is wearing a dress 310. On the portions of the skin of the woman 100not covered by the dress 310, the tanned skin portions 130 and theuntanned skin portions 210 (and the suntan lines 220 between them) arevisible.

There may be times when it is desirable that the untanned skin portions210 not be visible. For example, in a wedding a bride may wish to wear abridal gown with portions that would not cover the untanned skinportions 210. The same may be true for bridesmaids in the wedding whodesire to wear a dress with portions that would not cover the untannedskin portions 210.

Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method forpositioning the location of untanned skin portions 210 (and suntan lines220) on the body of a person when the person is getting a suntan.

Before undertaking the Detailed Description of the Invention below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is-inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like.Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout thispatent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understandthat in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prioruses, as well as future uses, of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates a view of the back of a woman who is wearing abathing suit having portions that form two shoulder straps that crossacross the back of the woman;

FIG. 2 illustrates a view of the back of the woman in FIG. 1 showing apattern of suntan lines that the sun forms on the back of the womanwhile the woman wears the bathing suit;

FIG. 3 illustrates a view of the back of the woman in FIG. 2 wearing adress and visible portions of the suntan lines on the back of the womanthat are not covered by the dress;

FIG. 4 illustrates a back view of a woman who is wearing a dress as adesign garment in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a back view of the woman in FIG. 4 while she iswearing a sun tan garment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary location of untanned skin portions andsuntan lines that are created by wearing a sun tan garment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart showing the steps of an advantageousembodiment of the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 4 through 6, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present invention in this patent documentare by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any wayto limit the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art willunderstand that the principles of the present invention may beimplemented in any type of suitably arranged type of clothing.

The present invention comprises a sun tan garment (for example, abathing suit) that has dimensions that position the location of theuntanned skin portions (and suntan lines) on the body of a person whenthe person is getting a suntan. The dimensions of the sun tan garmentare designed to provide boundaries for the untanned skin portions inreference to another garment (for example, a wedding dress) that will beworn at a later time. For convenience in description, the garment thatwill be worn at a later time is referred to as the design garment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a back view of a woman 400 who is wearing a dress410. The dress 410 is the design garment that the woman 400 will wearafter the sun tanning process. The dress 410 has dimensions that exposea portion of the skin of the woman 400. The exposed portions of skin aredesignated with reference numeral 420. The edges of the dress 410 aredesignated by reference numeral 430.

It is acceptable that the portions of the exposed skin 420 are tannedwhen the dress 410 is worn. However, it is desirable that no untannedskin portions or suntan lines be visible when the dress 410 is worn.

The sun tan garment of the present invention is designed having portionsthat position the location of the untanned skin portions (and suntanlines) on the body of the woman 400 so that the untanned skin portions(and suntan lines) are not visible when the woman 400 wears the dress410.

FIG. 5 illustrates a back view of the woman 400 while she is wearing thesun tan garment 500 of the present invention. The sun tan garment 500 isdesigned for use with the design garment 410 (i.e., dress 410) that isshown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 5, the dimensions of the sun tangarment 500 are selected so that when the sun tan garment 500 is worn nountanned skin portions will be located on the exposed skin portions 420not covered by the design garment 410. The edges 430 of design garment410 are shown in dotted outline in FIG. 5.

All of the untanned skin portions (and suntan lines) that are created bywearing sun tan garment 500 are located under design garment 410 and ata selected distance from the edges 430 of design garment 410. The valueof the selected distance is chosen so that the untanned skin portionsare not visible when the design garment 410 is worn.

FIG. 6 illustrates the location of the untanned skin portions 610 (andsuntan lines 620) that are created by wearing sun tan garment 500. Thelocation of the untanned skin portion 610 is shown as a shaded area andthe locations of the suntan lines 620 are shown in dotted outline. Asshown in FIG. 6, when the design garment 410 (i.e., dress 410) is worn,the untanned skin portions 610 (and suntan lines 620) are not visible.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart 700 showing the steps of an advantageousembodiment of the method of the present invention. In the first step ofthe method a design garment 410 is selected (step 710). Then theboundaries are located for the tanned skin portions of the wearer of thedesign garment 410 (step 720).

Then a sun tan garment 500 is provided that has a pattern for theuntanned skin portions of wearer of the design garment 410 (step 730).Then the wearer wears the sun tan garment 500 during a tanning process(step 740). After the tanning process the wearer removes the sun tangarment 500 and wears the design garment 410 (step 750). The designgarment 410 covers the untanned skin portions and the suntan lines sothey are not visible (step 760).

Although an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed with reference to a sun tan garment 500 worn by a woman 400,the principle of the present invention is not limited to use by women.The principles of the sun tan garment of the present invention areapplicable to persons of either sex and to persons of any age.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention so that those skilled in the art mayunderstand the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciatethat they may readily use the conception and the specific embodimentdisclosed as a basis for modifying or designing other structures forcarrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilledin the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

Although the present invention has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present invention encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A method for forming untanned skin portions on a body of a personduring a sun tan process comprising the steps of: providing a sun tangarment having portions that cover skin portions of said body of saidperson in accordance with a pattern based on a design garment; saidperson wearing said sun tan garment; and exposing skin portions of saidbody of said person not covered by said pattern of said sun tan garmentto a sun tan process while said person is wearing said sun tan garment.2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pattern of said suntan garment forms said untanned skin portions on said body of saidperson so that said untanned skin portions are not visible when saidperson wears said design garment.
 3. The method as set forth in claim 1further comprising the steps of: said person removing said sun tangarment after said sun tan process; and said person subsequently wearingsaid design garment that covers said untanned skin portions of saidperson.
 4. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pattern ofsaid sun tan garment is designed so that said sun tan garment has anedge that is located at a selected distance from an edge of said designgarment.
 5. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein said selecteddistance has a value of distance that causes said untanned skin portionsof said person to not be visible when said person wears said designgarment.
 6. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said sun tangarment comprises a bathing suit and said design garment comprises adress.
 7. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein said pattern ofsaid bathing suit forms said untanned skin portions on said body of saidperson so that said untanned skin portions are not visible when saidperson wears said dress.
 8. A method for forming suntan lines on a bodyof a person during a sun tan process comprising the steps of: providinga sun tan garment having portions that cover skin portions of said bodyof said person in accordance with a pattern based on a design garment;said person wearing said sun tan garment; and exposing skin portions ofsaid body of said person not covered by said pattern of said sun tangarment to a sun tan process while said person is wearing said sun tangarment.
 9. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein said pattern ofsaid sun tan garment forms said suntan lines on said body of said personso that said suntan lines are not visible when said person wears saiddesign garment.
 10. The method as set forth in claim 8 furthercomprising the steps of: said person removing said sun tan garment aftersaid sun tan process; and said person subsequently wearing said designgarment that covers said suntan lines of said person.
 11. The method asset forth in claim 8 wherein said pattern of said sun tan garment isdesigned so that said sun tan garment has an edge that is located at aselected distance from an edge of said design garment.
 12. The method asset forth in claim 11 wherein said selected distance has a value ofdistance that causes said suntan lines on said person to not be visiblewhen said person wears said design garment.
 13. The method as set forthin claim 8 wherein said sun tan garment comprises a bathing suit andsaid design garment comprises a dress.
 14. The method as set forth inclaim 13 wherein said pattern of said bathing suit forms said suntanlines on said body of said person so that said suntan lines are notvisible when said person wears said dress.
 15. A method for forminguntanned skin portions of a body of a person during a sun tan process,said method comprising the steps of: selecting a design garment;locating boundaries for tanned skin portions of said person when saidperson wears said design garment; providing a sun tan garment havingportions that cover skin portions of said body of said person inaccordance with a pattern based on said boundaries for tanned skinportions of said person when said person wears said design garment. 16.The method as set forth in claim 15 wherein said pattern of said sun tangarment forms said untanned skin portions on said body of said person sothat said untanned skin portions are not visible when said person wearssaid design garment.
 17. The method as set forth in claim 15 furthercomprising the steps of: said person removing said sun tan garment aftersaid sun tan process; and said person subsequently wearing said designgarment that covers said untanned skin portions of said person.
 18. Themethod as set forth in claim 15 wherein said pattern of said sun tangarment is designed so that said sun tan garment has an edge that islocated at a selected distance from an edge of said design garment andwherein said selected distance has a value of distance that causes saiduntanned skin portions of said person to not be visible when said personwears said design garment.
 19. The method as set forth in claim 15wherein said sun tan garment comprises a bathing suit and said designgarment comprises a dress.
 20. The method as set forth in claim 19wherein said pattern of said bathing suit forms said untanned skinportions on said body of said person so that said untanned skin portionsare not visible when said person wears said dress.